News

Executive headteacher of 8 local authority primaries paid more than £330,000-a-year

An executive headteacher of a federation of local-authority maintained primary schools has been revealed as one of the best-paid school leaders in the country.

Sir Craig Tunstall, who leads the Gipsy Hill Federation, was paid a total of £330,394 last year. His salary was revealed by investigative website ourcity.London earlier today, and was listed in Lambeth Council’s accounts.

The federation is made up of eight local authority-maintained schools, as well as two children’s centres.

The disclosure challenges arguments made by some critics who claim the government’s academies system is to blame for a rise in salaries paid to staff overseeing multiple schools – particularly executive headteachers and chief executives of academy trusts.

But Alasdair Smith, national secretary of the Anti Academies Alliance, told Schools Week: “This has happened because of the academies system, because people think it’s legimate to promote this, and that [this amount of pay] is the going rate in the market.

We do not do quick-fix remedies

“This culture has seeped into public services because of the academy system.”

He said the payment – more than double the £143,000 paid to the Prime Minister – was “obscene”.

Lambeth Council said Tunstall’s salary was included in its annual accounts because, despite being a school employee, the schools are not academies or free schools and fall within the “group boundaries of local government”.

However when asked for comment, the council referred Schools Week back to the school because they “set his pay”.

A spokesperson for the federation said Tunstall is paid according to “appropriate regulated bodies for teachers pay” which it said follow national financial regulations.

“Sir Craig and his senior leadership team have gone through an amazing journey in each of our eight schools and two children’s centres across 11 sites. We do not do quick-fix remedies.

“The work they have done is substantial, and sustainable into the future. At the heart of all we do (and all that Sir Craig has ever done) is to ensure that every child in each of our schools get the very best education we can deliver.”

The spokesperson pointed out that six of the schools have Ofsted “outstanding” grades, with the other two rated “good” with outstanding features.

The highest paid chief executive in the country is Sir Dan Moynihan, who earns £395,000 for running 37 schools (as of March) under the Harris academy trust.

However Tunstall’s pay-per-good school would put him way out in front, at £41,299 per school.

Tunstall was awarded a knighthood for his services to education in 2014. He is also a national leader of education and one of the federation’s schools is a national support school.

Schools Week understands there is no provision for a maintained federation to have a chief executive.

The Gipsy Hill spokesperson described Tunstall as a chief executive headteacher, but he is listed as chief executive on its website. The spokesperson did not respond to a request to clarify this point.

The school teachers’ pay and conditions 2016 state that a head’s pay should not exceed the maximum of a certain headteacher group – the highest of which is £83,079 to £115,582 – by 25 per cent.

However Schools Week has been told there is a clause that allows governing bodies to go above this cap in exceptional circumstances – although they need to obtain independent advice and a business case.

It was also reported last month that the federation has been given permission to convert all its schools into academies. However the federation spokesperson declined to comment on this point.

According to Companies House, Sir Craig became ‘executive head/CEO’ of Gipsy Hill Federation on 16 May 2016. Another person is also listed as CEO: Laura Anne Wright, appointed on same date. Gipsy Hill Federation was incorporated on 16 September 2014 as Gipsy Hill Trust and changed its name to Gipsy Hill Federation on 26 August 2016 (presumably with a view to wholesale academy conversion).
Gipsy Hill Federation is listed as a ‘dormant company’ and was therefore exempt from sending full accounts to Companies House. This is likely to change if the Federation’s schools convert to academy status. Sir Craig’s salary would appear on future accounts.

Laura Anne Wright is also a director of Upper Norwood Library Trust, as is Bryher Scudamore who in turn is a director of The Road to Happiness Limited. All of which has zero relevance to the subject of Craig Tunstall’s salary, which is exactly the same amount of relevance as what you say above.
Craig Tunstall is paid his substantial salary through Lambeth Council without it coming within a country mile of any academy trust.
As for the Anti Academies Alliance’s pathetic attempt to portray academies as the reason behind this huge salary, I’ve pointed out elsewhere how ludicrous it is to try and say anyone would think this is “the going rate in the market” when, except for Dan Moynihan, Craig Tunstall is paid massively more than any other academy CEO in the country.
Any by the way, you know as well as I do that Laura Anne Wright is not “listed as CEO”. Her occupation is stated to be a CEO, and if you’d clicked one more time on Companies House you’d see she is CEO of Tate Enterprises Limited.